After Midterm and GDW level layout

GDW

  Well, after our last meeting on Friday, we decided we needed to pick up the pace, and get some of the key mechanics done for our game.  We wanted to get the engine done ASAP, and then get a level layout ready, as well as our main character modeled.  I was tasked to get our level layout done and built.  I modeled the R&D facility, and tried to stay focused on our philosophy of our game.  Just to recap, we wanted to emphasize speed and melee fighting with our game.  I tried to make the R&D facility linear in the goal, but have branching rooms to add a little bit of variety.  I really didn't want it to be just a straight hallway from one point to another.  I also added in a large manufacturing room, and a couple of rooms for research.  Below are the pics for the finished level design.

This screenshot shows the entire R&D facility level.

Here is one of the separate rooms, which is intended to be a research lab which will have lab tables and science equipment.

Finally, this is the manufacturing area of the R&D facility, with the goal room at the end.  Here, we will have manufacturing equipment and a boss battle.

  One thing we will be keeping an eye on, is the width of the hallways.  I hope they are wide enough for enemy encounters, but if not, will have to be widened.  This is something we will figure out when we get to the point of play testing our prototype.  

  We plan to get the engine done shortly, and be able to load in the level and our robot for movement/collision detection.  Stay tuned to find out what's next!

Computer Animation

  The last class, we went over forward kinematics, and their relationships with each other through trees.  Professor Hogue then taught us the kinematic algorithm with the superscript, big T, subscript approach and how to do the inverse of it.  I found this incredibly informative, but am still unsure on how to implement this exactly in code.  I suppose you would just implement each individual object (like weapons, torches, HUD information) as nodes and then have the previous node point to whatever object you choose to currently have active (at least, this is what I understand from the theory of it).  Hopefully the coding won't be too hard, but I won't know until I try.  

  Anyways, I'm looking forward to what we are going to learn next class!